Reviews

Winterkill by Ragnar Jónasson

trizfernandes's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

marblemenow's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

christiepb's review

mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

This was probably my least favourite of the Ari Thor books- he seems a lot less likeable in this one! And while I like the idea for the plot, it felt too dragged out and simultaneously not detailed enough to really grip me. Still finished it in 2 days though as it was a decent read and I always love the Siglufjordur setting

thain's review against another edition

4.0

This entry jumps forward three years and puts poor Ari Thor's personal life in disarray after leaving him in a happy place last time. His brusque demeanor reflects his circumstances, though things improve a bit for him by the end. The two mysteries were linked together in a clever way.

stinajohanns's review against another edition

2.0

Ég hef yfirleitt gaman af bókunum um Ara og Siglufjörð en ég hugsa að þessi sé síst þeirra. Plotti er ekki sérlega áhugavert, spennan er lítil og bókin hefði þurft að fá miklu betri ritstýringu. Þarna eru t.d. endurtekningar sem eiga ekki að sjást og svo er ýmislegt þarna sem mér finnst ekki alveg passa við Siglufjörð. Það varð eitthvað svo áberandi að þó svo Ragnar hafi eytt tíma fyrir norðan virðist hann ekki átta sig á öllu við Norðurlandið, t.d. hvað varðar skólamál. Ég

amberk032's review against another edition

4.0

"Winterkill" starts with the Easter weekend and Ari is excited to have his ex-girlfriend visiting from Sweden with their 3 year old son. Unfortunately the body of a young woman is found pulling him away from his holiday weekend. What looks to be a straight forward answer to her death may not be as simple as initially thought.

After 7 years in the area, Ari is still struggling to feel connected to Siglufjörður. He knows many of the locals (and they all know who he is) but still doesn't know the connections and histories that the locals know. He's still learning the geography of his temporary home. Plus the area is continuing to change. The expanded tunnel between Siglufjörður and Reykjavik is bringing more tourists and an economic boom to the area. This is making an unsettled Ari feel even more unsettled as his new familiarities have changed.

kasinarene's review

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

thebooktrail88's review

4.0

Visit the locations in Winterkill

A Mystery to transport you to rural Iceland – Siglufjörður

I was so happy to go back to Siglufjörður. It feels like ages, but with the best places, once you go back you feel as if you haven’t left at all. The place is the same yet there are new people passing through, the same Ari Thor in the police trying to work with his new team members and a new mystery. There’s still the feeling of remoteness, snow and isolation yet there’s a new road bringing in a lot more outsiders.

Ooh but this time we go outside of the town and visit Siglunes, an even more remote place. When the characters in the novel go here, I felt genuine trepidation…..

Ari is of course the central character and he’s troubled. His son and ex-partner are back in town and he’s having to manage the complications that go along with that as well as a new and strange case he’s working on. A girl has been found dead outside an apartment block in the town. The owner is away in the city, so who is this girl and how did she get into the apartment? Why was she there? How did she die?

The investigation is deliciously complex and sensitive. Ari visits the parents, talks to her friends and suddenly, slowly, the real reasons for this girl’s death become clear. It’s a twisted case where the witnesses are strange, the girl’s friends distant and then there’s the man, a visiting artist, who ‘just happened to be in the area when the body was found’.

his was a multi-layered and very deep mystery with many more threads to it than I first realised. It’s quite a short novel too, so it really does pack a punch! The writing is sharp, the plotting clever ( but the case is very sad!) and the translation brings this to the fore. Kudos to David Warriner for translating this from the French. Other novels have been directly translated from the Icelandic but you can’t tell the difference.

Aaah, how I’ve missed Siglufjörður. Ari shows us just how this place has changed, yet how it has also stayed the same. He doesn’t like the extra tourists, that’s for sure. He talks and grumbles about the famous tunnel which connects the town to the outside world, and the snow which keeps it apart.

Recommended!

cybergoths's review

4.0

A satisfying return to the Icelandic detective series. The story is set over an Easter weekend when Ari Thór, now the Police Inspector in charge of Siglufjörður, is planning to spend time with his estranged partner and their son when then come back from Denmark for the weekend. As the weekend approaches, a young girl is found dead, apparently having killed herself after jumping off a second storey balcony. Ari starts to investigate but some aspects of the death don't make sense. We have the juxtaposition of an incoming storm, a deepening investigation and the complications of his domestic situation, all over a long weekend. The plot comes to a satisfying conclusion. Don't expect hard edged Scandi-Noir with this; this is a more subtle, darker tale of people's secrets in a small town.

booktrishandmagic's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Ragnar Jonasson is easily one of my favorite authors.  Dark Iceland is an excellent series.  I’m glad we got one more adventure, but I’m sad to see the series end.  Anyone who loves crime fiction and police procedurals should definitely check out this series.  This book is atmospheric, painting another vivid image of winter in Northern Iceland.  The same characters are back that we know and love, looking further into their personal lives.  The chilling mystery weaves you through quite a few twists before the final reveal, which is such a shock.  This is a bit of a blow burn, but it’s certainly worth it.  It’s a wonderful ending to the crime series.  Highly recommended!